Joyce McClaran Orbesen

Joyce McClaran Orbesen, 87, previously of North Myrtle Beach, recently residing in Cataula, Ga., and Chittenango, N.Y., passed away on Monday, June 29, 2020, peacefully at her daughter’s home in Georgia. Joyce was born on Dec. 4, 1932, in Newark, Ohio, into a large, loving, musical family. She graduated from Libby High School in Toledo, attended Duke University and graduated from Baldwin Wallace College. After marrying her childhood sweetheart, Bradley Orbesen, the couple spent a short time with the Navy in Japan, then settled in the Syracuse, New York, area where Joyce concentrated on raising her family, a daughter and twin boys — while constantly continuing her post graduate education in art. A respected and distinguished artist, her work was displayed in shows and galleries. In 1981 she entered the real estate field and was a broker with Gallinger/Better Homes and Gardens, where she was a life member of the President’s Club. During that time she sat on the Town of Sullivan Tax Grievance Board. In 1995, after her husband had died, she retired from real estate and moved to North Myrtle Beach.
Joyce began a whole new life in North Myrtle Beach, taking up old time fiddle in a serious way. She studied with Doc Murphy who imparted his love of all things “Old Tyme” to her. Her interest and skill grew as she attended workshops, masterclasses and festivals across the country and played with various groups. In 2002 she travelled New Zealand for a month as a member of a travelling Contra Dance band. Coming from a Scottish background, she was naturally drawn to Celtic music and was part of the popular group Gaelstorm that performed in the Grand Strand area and played many years at the North Myrtle Beach St. Patrick’s Day celebration. In her last years she performed with Al Pitman in Opus Duo at the Surf Club. A memorial brick has been placed in her honor at The North American Fiddlers Hall of Fame in Redfield, NY. Her stage name “Joy” epitomized who she was…to her last day she had the amazing ability to make people smile by singing a little ditty associated with any word presented to her.
Joyce, who loved the Lord, was an active member of Ocean Drive Presbyterian Church. She held dear her relationships with those in her church, bible studies and circles, and she organized volunteers for Mobile Meals for years. She was an active member of North Myrtle Beach book clubs and bridge groups. Having the gift of hospitality, her home was open — she had a constant stream of visitors. Besides loving people, she had a lifelong love of dogs. There was a faithful dog or two at her side almost all of her life — most recently, Rex.
She was predeceased by her husband Bradley, brothers Bob (Dotty) and George (Jan) McClaran and sisters Carolyn (Clyde) Marcellus and Johnnie Detrick as well as her brother-in-law Don Toth.
Survivors include her daughter, Sharon Lee Woodall (Brad), and sons Clay (Jeri) and Chris (Mona) Orbesen, sister Linda Mendro (Wayne), brother-in-law Dick Detrick, and sister-in-law Phyl Joan Toth — as well as seven beloved grandchildren, thirteen great-grandchildren, and a plethora of treasured nieces and nephews, friends and musician friends.
Because of the coronavirus, services were private. In lieu of flowers, the family requests contributions be made to Mobile Meals, c/o Ocean Drive Presbyterian Church, 410 Sixth Ave. S. North Myrtle Beach, S.C. 29582 or The Humane Society of North Myrtle Beach, P.O. Box 3369, North Myrtle Beach, S.C. or The North American Fiddlers Hall of Fame, 1121 Comins Road, Redfield, N.Y. 13437.